The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) provincial congresses in İzmir and Kırşehir were marred by intra-party brawls Sunday, overshadowing the election process of provincial officials.
In İzmir the disruption came when Deniz Yücel and Utku Gümrükçü, the presidency candidates for the CHP's provincial administration took the stage.
During Gümrükçü's speech, one of the attendees opened criticizing him and a mass brawl ensued. CHP Deputies Erdal Aksünger and Tacettin Bayır tried to intervene.
Aksünger, the deputy chair of the CHP, said the party was against a "one-man rule" and they won't allow such things to happen in İzmir. He defined the brawl as a "treason to the CHP."
Meanwhile, Bayır criticized the congress and said that the mayors and deputies, who "should have stayed neutral," took sides.
"A party member with the title of adviser to the chairman questioned our city representatives. He dictated them to vote for specific candidates. This has never happened in the CHP before. Whoever is responsible for this will be held responsible," he said.
Vice Chairman of the CHP, Tekin Bingöl, who was the council chairman at the congress gave a 15-minute break for things to settle down, but to no avail.
"If this incident makes you happy, let's continue," Bingöl reproached.
The other incident took place at the CHP's provincial congress in central Turkey's Kırşehir.
A squabble between two opposing groups turned into a fight and party members had to intervene.
Following the incident, one of the candidates, Hüseyin Çakmak, announced his withdrawal.
The other candidate, Yılmaz Zengin, issued a statement and said: "Such incidents should not take place in a CHP congress. It was sad to see people who know they can't win the elections create such problems."
